Are they chatting with chatbots or betting on sports?

I think a better framework to look at it is the follow quote from Terminator 2: Judgment Day,

    Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The terminator would never stop. 
    
    It would never leave him, and it would never hurt him, never shout at him, or get drunk and hit him, or say it was too busy to spend time with him. It would always be there. And it would die to protect him. 
    
    Of all the would-be fathers who came and went over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.

In so many ways, I am deeply uncomfortable with how these entities are being shepherded. However, at the same time, what they promise, what they offer is worth foregoing that risk.

Provided we don't spike the ball, as these systems grow in sophistication, they also grow in their ability to provide care. In a cruel world, I can see their descendants becoming the most humane choice, especially for those most at risk from the world.

A machine that never tires, with infinite patience, resolve and care, looking out for the person that they're assigned to and growing with them and through them.

I thought Chrono Cross was terrible, even more so when you consider how amazing Chrono Trigger was.